GOOD LUCK. 



NE\A' JERSEY. 



THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE 

UNIVERSALIS! CHURCH IN AMERICA. 



By rev. EDWARD G. MASON. 



PRINTED FOR THE MURRAY GROVE ASSOCIATION, 1896. 



The Gate to the Sea 






57310 





MIKKAV GRUVE lIOUsE. 



oi 



J/ 



0) 



Oj en during 
J LI. V and 
each year 

1 erms. SI 

rjr further 
apply 
M£S B 
Pres.. Ra 
Mrs. 11. A. 
Svcr 
Forked 



months o 
LdL'ST 



AU :. 



C')l 



a Day 

ifurmatloi 

to 

SEAL, 
lore, Md. 
LISS, 

tary, 

her. V. .4 



Good Luck, New Jersey 

GOOD LUCK, NEW JERSEY. 

THK HlKTliri.ACK OK TIIK U.Nl VERSAIJST ChURCH IN AMERICA. 



/f^ " . To the ordinary observer, the little settlement 

X of Good Luck, on the eastern shore of New 

Jersey, does not suggest itself as a place of un- 
usual importance or interest. The leading 
features of the hamlet — a few scattered farms 
with green fields adjoining, roads in which the 
fine sand lies two or three inches in depth, a 
grove of beatitiful oaks, two churches, near the 
older of which is a small cemetery, and a large, 
plain, but neat-looking summer hotel — are all 
more or less characteristic of the average 
country village on the coast line of the pine- 
lands of New Jersey. Only the more modem 
of the two churches, a pretty gothic chapel of 
■ brick, with heavy buttresses and a massive^ 
square tower, seems somewhat pretentious 
amid its commonplace .surroundings. 
But notwithstanding its similarity to many other settlements of its kind. Good 
Luck enjoys special distinction from the fact that it was here that the movement 
which culminated in the formation of the Universalist Church in America, had its in- 
ception. On the very spot occupied by the older of the two church edifices, upon the 




REV. JOH.S MUKKAV. 




THE POTTER MEETrNG UOLSE. 

outskirts of the grove of oaks, John Murray, the founder of the denomination, began 
his labors in the new world. The story of the meeting of Murray and Potter under 
most peculiar circumstances is already well-known. 

In the latter part of September, 1770, the English brig H and- m- Hand, from Lon- 
don, having failed to dispose ©f its cargo at Philadelphia, sailed up the coast of New 



4 The Gate to the Sea 

Jersey on its way to New York City. In the midst of a dense fog the captain of the 
vessel lost his bearings and it struck the bar, but passed over into a small arm of water 
known as Cranberry Inlet, which then connected Barnegat Bay with the ocean. The 
ship was jirevented by anchors from being driven on shore and a'part of the cargo 
was removed to a sloop which chanced to be near by and which was engaged'for the 
purpose. At the request of the captain, John Murray, who had sailed from* London 
as a passenger, went on board the sloop to take charge of certain articles which were 
deemed too valuable to be intrusted to irresponsible and unknown persons. On the 
following morning the Hand-in-Hand, aide^ by a high tide and favoring wind, again 




POTTER MKMORIAl. CHLKCH. 



put to sea, but the wind suddenly changing, the sloop was unable to follow the larger 
vessel. There being no provisions on board the sloop, later in the day Murray went 
on shore in search of food. He was directed to the house of Thomas Potter, a well-to- 
do planter, who not only furnished him freely the desired supplies, but warmly invited 
him to pass the night at his home. On the return from the vessel of his new-found 
friend. Potter informed him that he had been awaiting his coming for a long time and 
that on the following Sunday he would be e.xpected to preach in a meeting-house near 
by. From the conversation which followed, Murray learned that the planter, who, 
though illiterate was a man of unusual mental ability, had from his own reflections 
l)ecome a believer in the doctrine of universal salvation, and that he had erected a 
meeting-house in the full belief that God would send a minister of his own faith to 



Good Luck, Ne-iv Jersey 5 

proclaim the gospel from its pulpit. This minister, he affirmed, had at last arrived. 
Surprised beyond measure at his peculiar reception, Murray, who had resolved before 
leaving England that he would never preach again, declined the invitation, but the 
wind remaining the same and preventing his departure, he finally consented, believing 
that Providence directed him to grant the old man's request. On the next Sunda)', 
September 30. J770, John Murray preached his first sermon in America, and although 
the earliest denominational organization was not formed until many 3^ears later and in 
another section of the country, it was on that memorable day when Murray first pro- 
claimed his message in the little rude chapel in the New Jersey wilderness, that the 
foundations of the Universalist Church were laid. 




OLD POTTER DWELLINf^ HOUSE. 



To the many followers of Murray who annually visit the spot, there are numerous 
points of interest. As the visitor alights from the train upon the rude platform which 
serves as a depot during the summer months, he is met by a coach from the Murray 
Grove House, and on the way to the hotel the original site of the cabin where Murray 
first called to buy food, is pointed out to him. It was here that he was directed to 
Thomas Potter's house, and the meetinghouse near by first attracted his attention. 
But a few rods from the site of the old Potter Church is the Potter Memorial Church, 
and a little distance beyond is the Murray Grove Hotel. 

Continuing on his way Murray must have passed by the meeting-house and 
through the grove already mentioned, to the planter's house. The Potter dwelling 
house is still standing and is in a good state of preservation. With the exception of an 
addition which was erected several years ago, and some few minor changes recently 



6 The Gate to the Sea 

made in the interior, it undoubtedly presents much the same appearance that it did 
on that memorable day when the weary stranger was received within its hospitable 
walls as a welcome guest. 

The guest chamber, which was fitted up fur Murray, is on the second floor. A fire- 
]ilace occupjing a large section of one side of a room, was boarded up many years ago. 
In repairing the house recently the boarding was removed and an old cane, once, doubt- 
less, the property of Thomas Potter, was found in the recess. It was recently purchased 
bv the Baltimore Universalist Sundav-school and added tf) the Tiood I^uck collection of 




I'OTTKK CHURCH IN lS<;5. 
Rebuilt in 1842 on the site of original Meeting House. 

Potter and MuiTay relics. Near the house are several sheds, the roof of one of which 
is said to have been the original covering of the old church. A little to one side of the 
path which leads from the house to the church is a bubbling spring of pure, cold 
water, which has doubtless been a favorite source of water supply since the earliest 
settlement in the vicinity. 

The old meeting-house was located at a distance of. perhaps, one-third of a mile 
from the Potter House. The f>riginal edifice was a frame building of moderate size. 
Rev. Abel C. Thoma.s, writing of its appearance in 1S33, says it was "small, plain, 
and un]iainted, and could hardly be termed elegant." The seats were of pine, with high 
backs, excejjting one large square jiew, which was reserved for Thomas Potter and his 
family. The original building was torn down in 1842 and a new one erected on the 
sjwt, partially of the old material. The oak grove mentioned by Murray is still stand- 
ing near by, but the trees immediately surrounding the church have been cut away. 



Good Luck, jVe7c.i Jersey 7 

Through the dishonesty or mismanagement of Potter's executors, the church, which 
was willed to Murray, was sold to the Methodists and has since been held by them. 
For many years it was opened to all denominations, as its builder had intended it ever 
should be, but some years ago a young Methodist minister induced his people to close 
the house to the Universalists. The fact that during the early struggles of Methodism, 
when its adherents were persecuted and despised both for their heresy and supposed 
disloyalty to the American cause, Thomas Potter fearlessly opened the doors of his 
church and bade the preachers of the hunted sect make free use of his house of worship, 
rendei-s this act on the part of the Methodists the more reprehensible. Nor can there 
be a reasonable doubt that the property does not legally belong to its present holders. 
Near the old church is the grave of Thomas Potter, now inclosed by an iron fence 
and marked by a tombstone erected by Rev. Abel C. Thomas in 1833. Upon the 
stone is the following inscription : 

In Memory of 

THOMAS POTTER, 

The Friend and Patron of ' — — 

JOHN MURRAY, 

An Early Advocate of 

UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 



Have we not all one Father ? 



Erected Maj'^ 15, 1833. 



The exact date of Thomas Potter's death is not known, but is supposed to have 
been between 17S5 and 1790. His widow surrendered her property to a relative, he 
promising to care for her during the remainder of her life. The promise was broken ; 
she died in poverty and her resting place is not known. 

Of the personal appearance of Potter and his good wife, little is now known. 
Murray speaks of his " genuine politeness under a rough form," and at another time 
mentions ' ' his benevolent countenance. " ' ' He was, " wrote Murray in his ' ' Notes and 
Sketches," " a gem of the first quality, and notwithstanding the crust which from his 
birth enfolded him, this crust was so far broken as to emit upon almost every occa- 
sion, the'native splendor of his intellect." An old lady, the niece of Thomas Potter's 
wife, in conversation with the writer of this article, said that she had often heard her 
mother describe Potter as " a tall, large-framed man, with a decidedly sandy complex- 
ion," and his wife as "a very large woman." 

Tko Potior ilomorial CWvii-oK w.-<xa oroctod. by tho J^ow Jorooy Convention o£ Uni- 

versalists, with the aid of friends outside the State, and was dedicated in 1S86. The 
edifice is a very handsome one. The interior is nicely finished with overarching 
beams in the natural wood, and frescoed walls. Over the pulpit are pictures of John 
Murray and Hosea Ballou — the former an engraving, the latter an oil painting. In a 
case in the rear of the church is a valuable collection of relics, including among many 
other mementoes of interest, a picture of Murray presented by himself to a friend in 
Philadelphia, two Murray letters, the Potter cane already mentioned, and several rare 
books. The Murray Grove Association is adding to the collection as fast as possible. 
Nearly everything of historic value has been secured by the Association or by private 
individuals, but the original key to the old meeting house is still in the possession of a 
family in the neighborhood. A few of the old pews are still in existence. Of one 
of these, now in the vestry of the Hightstown (N. J.) Church, the gavel used at the 
" Boston '95 " Y. P. C. U. convention, was made. 



LIBI^ARY 




T/n- Gate to the Sea 



OF 



CONGPES 



014 206 356 6 



^han thirty years ago several influential Universalists endeavored to 
mtrol of the old Potter meeting house. The church, however, could not be 
put^^^H, and nothing further was accomplished than to secure an acre of land near 
by. ^I^^wvard the Murray Grove Association was formed for the purpose of develop- 
ing a sHJfcer grove meeting and resort, as well as to acquire anything in the vicinity 
which would be of historical interest to the Universalist Church. Though struggling 
under maiiy difficulties, the society has thus far been ver\- successful. It has succeeded 
in collecting many valuable relics, and through its labors the " Grove" is rapidly be- 
coming a pleas,mLand popular summer resort. Religious services are held during the 
entire montli of August, and each summer the list of speakers includes the names of 
several of the most eloquent and well-known preachers in the denomination. 

The Murrny Grove House is a neat, large, three-story building, with a broad piazza 
and i)leasant rooms. It stands in the edge of a pleasant grove and is but a few^ rods 
from the Potter Memorial Church. Recently a house and lot near the hotel property 
have been purchased, and will be in use this season. Upon the nicelj'-kept grounds 
fre tennis courts and a f^roonet ground for all who eniov these games. 

To'tbe AssociaiK a tl«e 'niversalist Church certainly owes a debt of gratitude be- 
cause of its efforts to Secure for future generations of Universalists, whatever remains 
to remind them of Thomas Botter and John Murray, and of the beginning of the 
Universalist movement in A/' ica. 




q^J'Ug ■"gSi^V-! 



tHK liKAVE OK THUMAS POTTER. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



I " 014 206 356 6 



